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Shanala Felistyr
Shanala Felistyr is a wise, spiritually-aligned wood elven cleric in the service of Baroness Olivia Falmark. She worships Mystra, the goddess of magic, and as a result her own magic blends arcane knowledge into her divine understanding. She's considered motherly yet mysterious by many of those around her, and Olivia is the only person who claims to truly know her. History Shanala was born two decades after the First Orc War as a member of the Felistyr clan of elves. The clan lived a fairly isolated life on the territory that would one day become the Kingdom of Egron, and was fairly unremarkable as far as wood elves go: hunter-gatherers who lived off the forest, capable archers and druids following the elven gods. The clan eluded the orcs during the early years of the Second Orc War, but their luck eventually ran out. The orcs all but annihilated the clan, leaving only a handful of survivors - including Shanala, who was only 120 years old at the time; barely an adult for an elf. The remnant of the clan died off one by one in the following years as the strain of winter and the lack of shelter was too rough for the weakened elves to survive. The final survivor, Shanala, passed out in the snow... Only to wake up within a Haven clinic. As it turned out, she had been picked up by Egronian soldiers and taken to Haven, suffering from exhaustion, hunger and hypothermia. The healers saved her, and gave her a new lease on life - a life she wasn't entirely sure how to use. Her clan was dead, and her only skills were with a bow to hunt deer and rabbits. She was no warrior. Instead, she stayed within Egron's walls, weathering the storm of the Second Orc War. She spent the time helping out around the city, feeding those who needed it, handing out blankets - generally aiding the relief efforts by Haven's leadership to earn her own food and shelter. When the war passed, she was once more left aimless. She primarily aided with the relief effort outside of Haven's walls like she'd done within the city. Once the direct wake of the war was over, Shanala picked up a healer's life, just outside of a small village in the southern countryside, in the territory of House Falmark. After two hundred and fifty years of a simple hermit's life, Shanala had become a very spiritual person. She had dabbled in many subjects via books found in dusty Haven stores or conversations with mysterious travelers that came to the village. Falmark lands were of course full of Paladins and other divine casters, who brought further viewpoints on the subject of magic. Unable to decide which path she wished to pursue, Shanala eventually decided on a middle path, traveling to Haven's temple to Mystra to engage in an education there. There, she learned an understanding of the arcane not quite like that of a wizard, all formulae and rules, but instead like a cleric understood divine magic. After twenty years of education in dusty books stored in temple libraries, she was assigned a new task - advisor to a scion of one of the noble houses. It was so that Shanala met Olivia Falmark, then barely a girl of fifteen. Due to the woman's relative youth, Shanala saw little combat, but still served to educate and aid Olivia in matters of magic. Now that Olivia is an adult, however, and trouble is brewing at the kingdom's shared borders with Londorwin, that is about to change. Appearance Shanala is a tall wood elven woman, standing a few inches over six feet in height. Her body is lithe and flexible, which reflects in her graceful, sinuous motions. She possesses the typical slender elven build - were she human, she would be of a healthy weight for her height, but only barely. Her hair is maroon in color and hangs all the way down to her lower back in straight, velvet-soft strands that the elf regularly brushes and washes. Her eyes are a ruby red color, along with being large and round in shape. Her eyelashes are long, dark and rich. Her facial features are strong for an elf, with pouty lips and a bold nose. Her clothing usually consists of a reddish-purple tunic and pants, with a black veil over the clothing. This is what she wears as a mystical servant of the goddess of magic. In combat it's far more likely to find her in her scale mail, a full suit of flexible armor emulating the scales of dragons. Lastly, as the assistant of a noblewoman, she's no stranger to fancy dresses worn to fit in in those circles. Personality Shanala is a doting, motherly woman who, while she treats her student with respect, has a tendency to come over as patronizing. Or matronizing, I guess. She does her best to keep her student out of trouble, yet to her great exasperation, usually fails. This behavior reflects on her habits as an adventurer; she will always protest reckless actions and is vehemently opposed to anything along the lines of torture or needless murder. This is not to say that Shanala is soft. Wielding divine magic touched by the arcane, she has a wealth of magical knowledge and power. Shanala isn't afraid to use it in the pursuit of the safety of the people or the magical secrets she seeks in her deity's name. She's a trained combatant as well as a spellcaster, and knows how to hold her own in locations such as anti-magic zones. Shanala has a fairly intense hatred towards all of orc-kind, and holds them responsible for the murder of her tribe. Getting her to work together with an orc sympathizer or half-orc is hard; getting her to work with an actual orc is even worse. She will refuse to heal such people with her magic unless pushed to do so and will always prioritize other allies with protective and supportive spells. Shanala's major vice is alcohol. When she's off-duty or Olivia does not need her, she's known to get fairly hammered - far more so than is proper of a cleric serving a noblewoman. Friends Olivia Falmark: Shanala's mistress. Shanala has served the young lady Falmark for almost a decade, and the two are friends as well as master/student and employer/employee. House Falmark: A group including Olivia's sister Lyth. While Shanala's loyalty lies with Olivia personally more than House Falmark, she's served the house for so long that she has grown loyal to its other members. Havenite Clergy of Mystra: Shanala was educated by this sect and is currently a part of it. Enemies Egron's Foes: As she serves Olivia Falmark and has lived in Egron for over three hundred years, Shanala strives against the country's enemies. Aspirations As a direct servant of House Falmark, Shanala has little room for her own exploration, though she is all too happy to see the house. However, when she does have time to operate as an independent adventurer, she primarily chases rumors of hidden magical secrets and lost elven arcana. Category:5e Player Characters